Apple vs. Google: It's War, and Thank Goodness

Let's face it: the tech world has been spoiling for a good, clean fight for years

Competition energizes us; it squeezes out our best performances, leads us to innovation we never thought possible in isolation, all thanks to the terror that the other guy is going to eat our lunch. Capitalism, on the occasions it actually works, is limited warfare. That's the idea. That's how you fight the common enemies of ineptitude and complacency. Every successful tech company understands this

But what kind of wars has Silicon Valley been fighting lately? Wimpy onesApple and Google, up until Monday, had been a damp squib. The companies have stalked around each other for years. They gradually disentangled from various agreements. Apple's Maps app tried to replace Google Maps. Apple sued Samsung at a snail's pace over mostly out-of-date phones, and over features that had really been ripped off by Google. Call that a battle of ideas? Read more...